Anemone
by Annber03
Summary: Reid and Lila attempt to make good on their promise to one day meet again. How does it wind up playing out?


**A/N:** _Spoilers for/references to "Somebody's Watching" and "Psychodrama"._

 _JJ: "Yeah, ever talk to…um…Lila anymore?"_

 _Reid: "You know, I think we should probably focus on this case right now, it's a little more pertinent..." – "The Performer"_

* * *

 _July 2006:_

Lila Archer sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her phone.

She'd just settled into her hotel room in one of Washington, D.C.'s fancier hotels. Her main reason for coming to the city was serious, professional. Ever since the events with Maggie Lowe from a few months back, she'd been increasingly involved in lawmaking efforts, in the hopes of trying to help other citizens avoid the same horror she'd been through. Thanks to some persuasion from her new manager, and as a means to honor the memory of Michael, she now found herself at the nation's capital, preparing to lobby on behalf of a new anti-stalking bill that had been proposed. She was going to testify and everything. Lila had tried to quell her nerves by imagining the entire event as a scene from a movie or television show. She'd started watching quite a few law and crime dramas in recent months – those people made speaking before politicians look easy enough.

The meeting on Capitol Hill wasn't the only thing on her mind, however. There was another reason she'd been eager for this trip.

She was in _his_ hometown. _Him. Spencer Reid._ The man who'd managed to save her life during her stalking ordeal all those months ago, as well as that of her friend, the one who'd been doing the stalking. For an FBI agent who took down a criminal, he sure didn't look the part. He was geeky. Awkward. Scrawny.

But he was also charming. And _very_ cute. And incredibly sweet. She'd been around and dated so many cocky jerks during her time in Hollywood. Spencer was the total opposite of all of them. He was a total gentleman. How many other guys would think to break up a makeout session in a pool because the circumstances weren't right? He showed compassion for Maggie, which allowed her to learn to do the same in turn. And he was protective of her without making her feel like a weakling.

She'd grown quite fond of him during that case, and hadn't forgotten him. She couldn't even if she wanted to. Her work with this law constantly brought along thoughts of him.

And so it was that she was currently staring at her phone. She and Spencer had talked about meeting up again one day if one ever found themselves in the city of the other, and he'd seemed very open to the idea. _Should I go for it? What have I got to lose?_

After close to ten minutes' worth of a mental back and forth, Lila finally took a deep breath, pressing in the work number Reid had given her. She prepared herself to wait, hoping that she wouldn't be on hold too long, or he wouldn't be too busy, or wouldn't have been called away on a case, or -

"Hello?"

 _That was quick._ Lila smiled at the familiar voice on the other end. The rasp was still there, but his voice had grown a little deeper since then. She decided she liked it when he spoke low. The tingling effect that particular tone had on her as she heard it right against her ear was… _enticing_.

"Hey, stranger," she teased. There was a pause as she waited for him to recall her voice. Not surprisingly, it didn't take him very long.

"…Lila?" he finally asked, the telltale squeak reappearing. _Ah. There's the old Spence I know._

"Hi, Spencer," she said quietly, a girlish grin spreading across her face.

"Hi. Wow. This…is a surprise," he answered, his voice just as quiet. She could almost picture him running a hand through that soft, thick dark hair, down along the back of his neck.

"Yeah." She stood up, shuffling about her hotel room, gazing down at her bare feet. _What the hell is wrong with you?_ She wasn't even face to face with him and yet she was acting like some girl scared to ask her crush to a dance. She was confident, assured, flirty Lila Archer, television actress! This should be simple. _You pulled Spencer into your pool and kissed him, for God's sake!_ _Get it together already._

"Lila?"

"Hm?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Still here. Sorry, got distracted for a moment." _Smooth._

"Oh." There was a thoughtful pause. "So…" he began slowly, "how've you been?"

"Good. I've been good. Busy, as always." _Wow. Don't overwhelm him all at once._ "You?"

"Same. Busy. The usual." _You know._ She wondered if Reid was cringing at himself right then, too.

Lila had never been all that big on small talk. One reason why she often tended to hate doing interviews. She decided to finally get right to the point. "Guess where I am?"

Well, okay, she decided to head _towards_ the point.

"Where?" Lila smiled at Reid's playful response.

"I'm in D.C.!" She finished that statement with a flourish, expecting a cheerful whoop and an automatic agreement to meet up. What she got instead was a full minute of silence, and she instantly wanted to kick herself. She should've known Reid better by now – he wasn't really one for surprises. Didn't hate them, but didn't love them, either. "Spencer? You there?"

There was a clearing of the throat on the other end. "Um, ah, er…yeah… I'm s-sorry, did you, um, did you say you were in…D.C.?"

"Yeah." She quickly explained everything with her speech, eager to get to the main point of her call.

"Oh. Well, that's – that's great." Reid's voice sounded very distant now.

"And I just figured, as long as I was here, well…" It took a couple seconds before she realized she was twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. She yanked her hand down immediately, wrapping her arm around her waist. "I'd call you, like I said I would, when we, um –"

"When we last spoke," Reid finished up, trying to hide his smile. _She remembered._ Their final conversation before his return to Quantico had played over in his mind more times than he'd cared to count, or tell her. He'd often tried to temper his hopes that such a thing could ever possibly happen – she _was_ an actress, after all, he reminded himself, and as such, had so many other much more important things to do and people to see.

But another part of his mind refused to let go of the idea anyway. After all, he certainly never thought he'd see her again after that night they met at the art museum, and yet…

"Right." she replied. He noted how genuinely pleased she sounded. Times like this he was grateful for his ability to sense what others were thinking.

"Anyway," Lila continued then, bringing him out of his wandering thoughts, "I was thinking that maybe we could…meet up? For lunch, or something?" She hastily added the last part. Best not to spook the poor guy completely right off the bat.

"For lunch," Reid mused thoughtfully.

"If it's a bad time, I can –"

"No, no! It's fine. I just wasn't expecting to – " Reid cut himself off. There was no way to end that sentence that wouldn't come off weird.

Thankfully, though, Lila nodded in understanding. He wasn't the only one who could figure out what someone else was thinking. "I get it. I wasn't expecting this, either. But we've got the opportunity, so… Are you interested?"

There was another brief pause, and Lila felt her stomach tightening as she waited what seemed like ages for Reid's answer. His eventual response had her letting out a slow sigh of relief.

"Lunch sounds great. What time?" His confidence seemed to be returning. Lila wondered briefly if his teammates weren't nearby, listening in and coaxing him.

No matter. She and Reid sorted out a time for later that afternoon, after her speech at the Capitol, and when Reid was most likely to be taking his lunch break (it would be a little late that day, he'd said, because they had a lot of work that morning). They picked a restaurant from some options he'd shared, he gave her the address and the means by which to get there, and she informed her manager she was going to be busy that afternoon. Everything was neatly planned out.

Those plans found themselves occupying Lila's mind the rest of the morning as she dressed and tried to look over her speech. She attempted to focus her concentration there, rehearsing the speech over and over again in front of the mirror above the dresser.

But her mind would have none of it. Thoughts of Reid and her soon-to-be reunion with him insisted on distracting her. What would she say? What would _he_ say? _Did he still dress like an accountant meets college student? Was he still incredibly awkward and nerdy? Still spouting facts at the drop of a hat? The restaurant they'd agreed to meet at was somewhere between casual and fancy…was that a hint?_

 _For that matter,_ _ **was**_ _he dating anyone...?_

Probably best to hold off on that last question.

By noon, just as she was about to leave, Lila had managed to shake off her nerves and psych herself up. Things would go well. She would get through this very important presentation, then off to see Spencer. They'd have a lovely lunch, walk around town a little, perhaps, if there was time, exchange non-work related numbers before they parted, and from there…who knew? Just the thought of that question made her positively giddy. The whole setup was perfect.

Until it wasn't.

At two-thirty pm, shortly after her meeting with Congress, she found she'd had a message from Reid. Excited, she went to listen. _Confirming plans? Announcing he'd been able to leave work early? Letting her know he was already at their agreed upon spot?_

"Hi, Lila, it's, um, it's me, Spencer."

Her heart began sinking. He did _not_ sound excited. Quite the opposite, actually.

"I'm _really_ sorry to have to tell you this, but, uh, I'm not going to be able to make it today after all."

Lila's heart kept on dropping. _He's backing out._

"We just got a case. It's down in South Carolina. We're leaving within a half hour. I'm _so_ sorry." A small smile returned. He _did_ sound genuinely apologetic. "If you want to reschedule – if you _can_ reschedule, that is, um…just – call me back at this number and let me know. Okay?" There was a brief pause, a slight sigh, and then, "Bye, Lila."

Unfortunately, rescheduling was out of the question. She had to be back in L.A. the next morning. Important meetings. Her new manager was an absolute stickler about those things. It drove her nuts.

She'd allowed herself a brief twinge of hope, though. Reid _had_ seemed honestly disappointed for canceling on her. Maybe he did want to still reconnect after all?

Luckily, later that evening, they'd managed to sneak in a phone call once they'd each settled themselves in their respective hotel rooms. They tried to brush off the disappointment of the day's events. Reid reassured her that he had honestly looked forward to seeing her again, Lila insisted she understood. They made a promise to try again someday, and spent the next twenty minutes catching up. Lila filled him in on her afternoon at the Capitol (it had gone well, and the bill looked to have strong support), and he chose to share some humorous stories about his teammates, so as not to depress her with the details of the disturbing case he was about to start working.

After their chat, Lila relaxed on the balcony outside her room, staring out the window at the night sky. Reid, meanwhile, was lounging on his bed, gazing at the old tabloid photo of him and Lila that he'd snuck into his go-bag. Pleasant memories of kisses in a pool and affectionate goodbyes and art discussions floated through their heads.

Little did they know then that another opportunity for them to meet up would eventually come. That time, however, it would be Reid who reached out first.

* * *

 _October 2006:_

The case was a rather bizarre one. A man was holding up banks in Los Angeles, ordering the hostages to undress, and engaging some of those same hostages in lewd acts. He'd eventually wound up killing a young boy in the process, which only added to the team's determination to nab him as quickly as possible.

They'd been at the police station, attempting to work out more information about their unsub's comfort zone. Reid felt a surge of excitement upon hearing that Garcia had finally managed to narrow down where the unsub lived.

"That's only one-point-six miles from the last restaurant that he hit." Reid felt the eyes of his colleagues upon him at that moment, and continued. "I've been studying a lot of L.A. maps."

He breathed a sigh of relief when everyone accepted that answer – of _course_ he would, it was Reid, after all – and moved on. Last thing he needed was anyone asking deeper questions. The case was solved shortly thereafter, and they'd be on their way back home tomorrow.

Reid had tried to call Lila after the case ended, frowning upon getting her voicemail. _I really need to stop getting my hopes up._ He was working on packing up his things at his hotel later that evening when his phone rang.

It was her.

"Hey, Spencer." Her voice sounded warm, mixed with a hint of some other emotion Reid couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Hi!" _Keep it cool, Spencer._

"Sorry for not responding earlier. I got hung up with work."

"That's okay." A rush of relief that that was the case. "I was just calling to tell you that I'm –"

"- here in L.A.?" She smiled at his lack of response. "I saw the story on the news. You got the guy?"

"Yeah, we did."

"Good. So are you staying around for a while?" She shouldn't have asked. It would've been so much easier if he weren't staying. Damn that hope.

"We're leaving tomorrow, actually."

"Oh." _Don't do it. Don't ask him._ "Do you have any plans for the rest of the evening?"

"Um…" What exactly was he supposed to say? "No, I'd just planned to stay in and read a book"? Yeah. That sounded attractive. "Not really."

The next words were out of his mouth before he could even properly think them over. "Would you like to grab some dinner, Lila?"

Her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own, too. "Sure. I'd like that." Great. Now she had to tell him.

Again, plans were made to meet up, Lila being the one to suggest a restaurant this time. Something casual, an outdoor café. It might make things a little less awkward and painful. Plus, it was gorgeous outside. Might as well take advantage of the nice weather. They set a time – six-thirty – and that gave them both a couple hours to get ready.

Lila settled on a nice, bright blue summer-y dress and a pair of sandals. Fall had arrived, but L.A. didn't really grasp the concept of seasons. And besides, this dress fit with her casual theme she wanted for the night. Hair up in a messy bun, just the lightest touch of makeup, and she was ready to go.

Reid had also been analyzing his clothing situation. He frowned upon looking at the contents of his go-bag. Of course. It'd be just his luck that he got a date with Lila and have nothing nicer to wear beyond his usual button-down shirts and slacks. What he'd put on that morning would have to do.

Then the other dilemma. _Glasses on? Glasses off?_ The amount of squinting Reid did when he removed his glasses told him the answer. He just hoped Lila wouldn't find them too dumb-looking. Last thing he needed was a repeat of the Alexa Lisbon incident.

 _She's not Alexa, though. For whatever reason, she actually wants to spend time with you._

Not the best pep talk in the world, but it was enough to keep him motivated as he continued checking himself over in the mirror. Once Reid had finally convinced himself he looked relatively presentable, he headed out, slip of paper in hand.

Along the way, he made a quick detour. His studying of maps had proven beneficial in other ways – he knew there was a nice little floral shop just down the road from the hotel. Now he just had to hope they had what he was looking for. He'd decided to buy her her favorite flower, a small batch of red anemones. Perfect choice, too, as they were a symbol of anticipation.

 _Course, they also symbolize fading hope. They're associated with the death of Adonis, killed by a wild boar's tusks, and his lover, Aphrodite, who, while mourning him, saw the flowers turning from white to red and watched the wind blow the petals away…_

Reid sighed. Sometimes his research and vast knowledge could really backfire on him. He did eventually manage to find the flower he was in search of, however. _That's a good sign, right?_

He held on to that thought as he hailed a cab.

 **ooo**

It didn't take him long at all to find her. Just like the night they first met. His eidetic memory wouldn't have let him forget her as it was, but even without that, he could pick her out of a crowd, no problem. She was sat at a small table for two just outside the restaurant, a red and white umbrella shading her from the setting sun. One leg was crossed over the other, her sundress ending at the knees, showing off her lovely tanned calves.

She still had that silky, shiny gold hair. Still had the megawatt smile that was custom-made for magazine covers (and tabloids, too, but he chose to forget that for now). That fit, toned body that he'd seen far more of than he probably should've last time, what with her wandering around in all those bikinis.

Not that he was complaining, mind. Besides, he _had_ been respectful, had tried not to look.

Okay, he'd tried not to let his gaze _linger_ , at least.

Reid took in a deep breath, mentally boosting himself up, as he hid the flowers behind his back _. Just one step forward. There you go. Then another…_ Before he knew it, he found himself walking, then sprinting, towards her.

"Lila!" He waved to her.

She turned, squinting her eyes for a moment before flashing that infamous smile. Reid was pretty sure that smile would never fail to make him slightly weak in the knees.

Her smile grew as she took him in. _Yep. Still as adorably nerdy as ever._ The high-top shoes, the tan cords, the button-down shirt, complete with dark tie. Sporting glasses this time, too, she noticed. Not the most flattering pair of specs, but somehow, on him, they looked rather cute. She giggled to herself as she imagined him pushing the center of his glasses up with one finger.

His hair was cut slightly shorter, too, and pushed back from his face a little more. She rather liked the shaggy hair he sported last time they were together, but this style did show off his sharp cheekbones better. Made his eyes stand out a little more, too.

"Spencer," she said softly, getting up from her seat and moving towards him. One of his arms gently slipped around the upper end of her waist (causing her to smirk a little – ever the gentleman), while she slipped one around his neck, placing her other hand on his hip. "It's good to finally see you."

"Good to see you, too," he said enthusiastically, pulling back to look at her. They stared at each other for a brief moment, her taking in his sweet dark eyes, him admiring her soft blue ones. And just like the tone of her voice on the phone earlier, there was an unreadable expression on her face.

 _Stop it, Reid. You're imagining things._

Shortly after, Lila backed out of his grip altogether. "Have a seat," she offered, waving towards the table.

"Right, right," Reid muttered. He felt a slight twinge of confusion when Lila settled herself across from him instead of right next to him, but he shrugged it off. Either way, he'd have a nice view of her.

Another silence fell, and Lila silently cursed herself for lacking her gift of gab at the moments when she really needed it. "So…" she began slowly, folding her hands and stretching her arms out on the table.

"So…" It was then Reid realized he still had one hand behind his back. He blushed slightly as he pulled the flowers out. "I almost forgot. These are for you." He handed her the bouquet, trying to remain eager while carefully studying her reaction. "Red anemones. I remembered." He beamed, straightening a little in his seat.

Lila's stomach lurched a little as she looked from Reid to the flowers, a touched expression flitting across her face. _Oh, Spence…you really, really shouldn't have._ She delicately ran her fingertips over the flowers…

…only to set them down on the table. "Thanks, Spence, they're lovely," she said simply. Reid just kept on smiling, trying to bury that ever-growing nervousness deep, deep down as far as it could go.

 _Does she not like them anymore? Maybe not, not after…oh, God._ "I shouldn't have brought them, should I?" he asked hurriedly, reaching a hand out for them. "I'm sorry. I just remembered you liked them, and – "

"Spencer," Lila began softly, placing a hand over his. "It's okay. They're perfect. Thank you."

Shortly afterward, they ordered their meals, and spent their wait making a little more small talk. Reid would've happily talked about anything under the sun with her (hell, they _did_ actually talk about the sun), but something about this conversation seemed…off. She was friendly, sweet, and charming as ever, but Reid couldn't escape the nagging feeling something was wrong.

A while later, as they began their meals, Reid decided to try and liven things up again. "So, Lila, are you planning on coming back to D.C. again anytime soon?"

Lila stiffened in her seat before muttering what sounded like a curse. Time to get this over with. "Spencer…" she began slowly, "I have something I need to tell you."

Reid heard her, heard the tone in her voice, but he figured if he just kept talking, he could somehow freeze time and keep this reunion running pleasantly.

"'Cause if you are, I was thinking we could go visit a couple museums you might like. There's a great art museum downtown, with the kind of artwork that I think you'd like –"

"Spencer."

"And of course, there's the Smithsonian. I don't know if you've ever been there, but they've also got a fantastic art wing, and they've also got all these cool artifacts –"

" _Spencer_ ," Lila stated again, a little more loudly this time.

"- they even have a wing devoted to TV shows and films – props, outfits, pieces of furniture, and –"

"SPENCER!" Lila finally exclaimed, putting a hand on Reid's to still his flailing arm. She watched Reid instantly quiet down, his dark eyes boring into hers, his face full of genuine confusion…and oh, damn it, that look did _not_ make what she was about to say any easier.

"I…um…I…" She took a deep breath.

"What is it, Lila?" Reid's voice sounded very resigned now. That nervousness had bubbled back up into his stomach, up towards his chest, into his throat. Only now it'd turned into this weird, aching sensation. Almost like a lighter form of heartburn.

"I'm moving. To Europe." She waited for his reaction, searched his eyes for whatever emotion came out.

Reid blinked. That wasn't quite what he expected, or feared. It still wasn't good news for him personally, but considering all the other options… "Europe?" he echoed.

She nodded. "Nothing's really happening on the acting front here at the moment," she began, shrugging nonchalantly, "and I have some modeling gigs lined up there, so I figured this would be a good opportunity for me." She furrowed her brows. "Are you upset?"

"No." _Liar._ "Well…yes. A little. I mean, I'm happy for _you_ , but…this means…"

"This means that it may be some time before we see each other again." She left out the "if ever" response. No need to break the poor guy's heart any further.

Reid nodded ruefully. "Right." He stared down at the table, clearing his throat, trying not to notice Lila's hand softly stroking his.

"I'm sorry." She made sure to stress the sincerity in her apology.

"Don't be," he said, blinking as he looked back up at her, a small smile appearing. "It's a great opportunity for you. You should go for it."

"Yeah?" _Sigh._ _Way to remind me why I like you, Spencer Reid._

"Yeah. And besides, there's all sorts of ways to keep in touch nowadays, right?" Never mind the fact that he didn't have his own personal non-work e-mail. Or that his phone's texting abilities were minimal, at best. _Maybe I should talk to Garcia._

"Exactly!" Now Lila flashed her own small smile. "Plenty of options."

The two nodded, pretending they'd resolved that whole situation. They soon fell into a decent conversation over the remainder of their meal. She talked about the struggles her show had after the whole stalking case, due to the overshadowing presence the publicity brought. He talked about some of the cases the team had dealt with recently, fascinating her with the complexities of their "Fisher King" experience. Reid also took a moment to reassure Lila that Maggie Lowe was doing all right at the mental facility where she currently resided, and she informed him that Parker Dunley was still at the art museum.

After their dinner, they took a stroll around the block, not wanting the conversation to end. Along the way, they passed a building whose side was covered in street graffiti, stopping to examine it. Reid held his tongue with the statistics about graffiti vandalism, instead choosing to enjoy the feeling of Lila's arm entwined with his.

"Feel anything yet?" She threw him a teasing grin, nudging his side.

"There's definitely something…appealing, about this one." Reid returned her grin before they burst out laughing at the recreation of the conversation from that night so many months ago.

 _If only we could've repeated certain other moments from that night…_ Lila turned away then, wondering if Reid was thinking similar thoughts. If she'd seen his wistful expression, she would've had her answer.

They kept on walking for a while longer, falling into a companionable silence, until, eventually, the time came for them to go their separate ways. Reid had to get some rest for the flight back home, and Lila was on her own plane ride to Paris in the morning.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, just like before. She briefly touched her chin to his hand…before reaching up and placing one of her hands on his cheek, pulling him in for a quick kiss.

At least, she'd _intended_ it to be quick. But with his hands sliding down her arm and to her waist (a little lower than it'd been when they met up earlier, she noticed), pulling her closer, that made parting a little more difficult. As did the way he gently kissed her, his lips still as soft as ever.

Reid was only dimly aware of various passerby staring at him and Lila as they passed, his focus on the woman in his arms, her tender touch and the intensity of her kiss. He'd never imagined himself being the sort to kiss a woman in such a public setting, but Lila obviously had a way of bringing out sides of him he'd never realized were there. And he kind of liked that.

After a couple moments, they finally managed to part, her hand resting on his chest. "Well…" she began breathlessly, biting her lip. _She's adorable,_ Reid decided.

"Well…" he parroted as he smiled at her. They shared a quick laugh as she buried her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just –"

"Don't be sorry. It was wonderful." He caught her eye as she looked up at him, and she shyly nodded her agreement.

Just then, a cab finally pulled up. Reid pulled out some cash, handing it to the cabbie despite Lila's protests. They shared a brief hug, Lila enjoying the feeling of Reid's fingers running gently up and down her back, his chin resting against her shoulder, his voice murmuring some sort of sweet parting words into her ear. Reid, meanwhile, took in the scent of her perfume, her soft hair against his cheek, her entire body pressed against his.

The honk of the horn from the cab forced them apart. Reid opened the door for Lila, watching her slide into the backseat, taking a moment to look at her before shutting the door. Once she'd settled in, she rolled down the window.

"Bye, Spencer." Reid tried to ignore how sad she sounded.

"Bye, Lila," he replied. She blew him a quick kiss, he gave a final wave, and soon the cab peeled away. Reid waited, watching until the vehicle eventually disappeared into the congested traffic. He turned around and walked back down the path he'd come a while, before finally taking another cab back to his hotel.

Neither of them acknowledged the lack of phone numbers or e-mail addresses exchanged.

Time went on. Reid still held on to that old tabloid, pulling it out and smiling at it every so often, wondering what had become of the beautiful, smart, kind Lila Archer. For all he knew, she eventually wound up in some exotic country spending her days at the beach, or married some big name actor, or whatever else it was famous people had the luxury of doing all day. Wherever she was now, whatever she was doing, he just hoped she was happy.

A few years later, in a small apartment in Rome, a young blonde starlet was settling into her new home. Later that night, before she went to bed, she gazed at the dried red anemones that had long ago been pinned inside one of her scrapbooks, running her fingertips over them, and smiled at the memories of her sweet, adorable hero in nerd's clothing, Spencer Reid.

* * *

 _As always, reviews/critiques/etc. are appreciated._


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